Improvement in toy automatons



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL K. HATFIELD, OF POTTSTOVN, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOY AUTOMATONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 160,187, dated February23, 1875; application filed October 16, 1874.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANL. K. HATEIELD, of Pottstown, in the county ofMontgomery and in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Toy Automatons; and do hereby declare 4thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings making a part of thisspeciiication, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my automaton,the full lines showing the operative parts at rest, and the dotted linesshowing the position of said parts when the hammer is partly raised.Fig. 2 is a like view of the same, with the dotted lines showing'theposition of parts when the arm is partly raised, and the full lines saidparts when ready for striking the bell; and Fig. 3 is a view, incross-section, of said operative parts.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of thefigures.

The design of my invention is to produce, by mechanical appliances, atoy having the natural movements of a human being when striking upon abell with a hammer; and it consists in the peculiar construction andcombination of the operative parts, substantially as and for the purposehereinafter specified.

In the annexed drawings, A represents the head and shoulders of myautomaton, which are secured to or upon a block, B, that is providedwith a tongue, I), which extends downward within a corresponding slot,o, formed within the upper end of a post, O. At a point corresponding tothe positions of the arms a rod, D, passes horizontally and laterallythrough the post O and tongue b, and serves as a pivotal bearing for andupon which the head and shoulders may oscillate in a line from front torear. One end, D', of the rod D extends forward, and has secured theretothe fore-arm and hand E of my automaton, which hand grasps a hammer, E',that, when sufciently depressed, will impinge upon a bell, F, and causethe same to sound. The opposite portion D of the rod D extendshorizontally rearward, inward, and

again rearward, and at its end is provided with an eye, d, to which isattached the operating wire or cord G. A stop, H, arranged to engagewith the upper side of said eye d, arrests the upward motion of said armD just before the hammer E reaches the bell F.

If, now, the wire Gr is drawn downward to a sufficient distance, andthen released, the weight of the hammer E will cause the same to fallwith such momentum that, when the arm Dl is arrested by the stop H, therod D will spring and permit said hammer to strike said bell, afterwhich said rod will resume its normal position and lift said hammer fromsaid bell, so as to offer no obstacle to the free vibration of thelatter.

When striking upon a bell with a hammer, as described, the arm of aperson would move upward a portion of the distance to be traversedbefore the head and shoulders would change positions, after which thelatter would be thrown backward. Upon the downward stroke of saidhammer, said head and shoulders would reach their normal position beforethe hammer impinged upon the bell. t

In order that my automaton may have the motions described, thefollowing-described connection is provided between the same and theoperative mechanism: A Wire loop, I, is secured to, and extends rearwardfrom, the lower end of the tongue b, in such position, with relation tothe arm D', as to cause the latter to engage With and move said loopdownward when it has completed a portion of its downward stroke. Aspring, K, attached at its lower end to the post O, and at its upper endbearing against the rear side of the block B, holds the latter in itsnormal position, except when moved therefrom by the action of the arm D.

It willnow be found that the operation and motions of the arm, head, andshoulders of my automaton correspond to the movements ofthe upperportions of the human body when engaged in striking blows in the mannershown, and that it is only necessary to supply drapery to the figure torender the illusion complete.

the spring K, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this7th day of October, 1874:.

t DANIEL K. HATFIELD. Witnesses:

HENRY F. YERGLY, D. F. REINERT.

